Apple's upcoming iOS 18 update will bring a minor update to a feature you may not know is hiding in your settings: as reported by MacRumors, the feature, called Background Sounds, will add two new sounds. The sounds are called "Night" and "Fire."

The Background Sounds feature was introduced to the iPhone with iOS 15. When enabled, this tool allows users to play ambient background noise on the iPhone to help them focus or relax. At launch, there were six different ambient noises available, including Ocean, Rain, Stream, and White Noise.

It also includes an option to play background noise while streaming music, podcasts, or videos.

Released as part of a series of wellness updates to iOS 15, calming background noise has been proven to reduce stress and improve concentration.

This free feature can be set up through the Settings app. If you have not tried it yet or need a refresher, please see our step-by-step guide to turning on background sound.

The Ambient Noise feature is located under the Accessibility menu in the Settings app. Background sounds are located under the Audio/Visual menu. From there you can turn the feature on and select the ambient noise option.

This is a fairly powerful set of tools that allows you to change the volume of selected ambient sounds in general, as well as the volume at which they play along with other media such as videos or podcasts.

For quick access to this tool, add Background Noises to the Control Center. Go to the Control Center from the Settings app and from there add it to Apple's Quick Access area.

Apple is gradually rolling out iOS 18 beta updates for developers. For those who want to try it out, a public beta version will be available later this month. A full update of the operating system should be available in September when Apple announces its iPhone 16 lineup.

If you are an Apple tablet or laptop user, new background sounds are available in the iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia beta programs.